Guitar & Bass
Ukulele
Beginners
Intermediate
Advanced
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You can email Simon Sheffield at simonsheffield@googlemail.com or use the options below.
Email Simon SheffieldSimon Sheffield
About
I have been teaching the guitar to children and young people professionally since 2003, both at local schools and privately, and have taught many children from complete beginners onwards with great success.
I am a member of the Registry of Guitar Tutors, and have good passes in all of the Associated Boards of the Royal Schools of Music guitar grades, plus Grade 5 Theory and O and A Level Music.
I have up to date child protection training, and completed a Drake Music course in using assistive technology in making music with young disabled people.
I have wide ranging musical experience from performing as a soloist and in bands and musical theatre.
What I / we help young people achieve
I have taught several children who had tried learning the guitar previously but found their lessons uninspiring, and the music they were working on not engaging.
I try to find the music that will open the door for each child, something they will be grabbed by and will want to practice. I get children playing the music they want to play, perhaps with some music I think they should play to help them learn too, but there has to be something that captures the child's imagination. So I'm very happy to work out a pop song for a student for example, and get them playing it.
This method of combining pop songs the children know and enjoy with some more traditional formal classical guitar instruction has proved very successful at a local primary school, where students are now playing with great enthusiasm.
I also have a great record of exam success, having put many young people in for acoustic, classical and electric guitar grades (plus Theory of Music), and all having passed, most achieving merit or distinction.
My guitar lessons help make happy and inspired young people who are equipped to become good musicians with enough practice.
Opportunities for children & young people
- To learn to play an instrument and / or develop skills on an instrument
- To create / write music and / or lyrics
- To develop recording /production skills
- To play, perform music with others
- To learn things about oneself , other subjects or life-skills through musical activity
Also Works With
Salisbury Area Music Cooperative
Times
- Term Time
- After School
- Weekends
- School Holidays
Working with special needs
I have experience of teaching young people with attention deficit disorders, and children on the autistic spectrum. I also completed a Drake Music training course on the use of assistive technology in helping disabled young people to make music.
Taught Instruments
- Guitar & Bass
- Ukulele
Ages Taught
- 7-10
- 11-13
- 14-15
- 16+
Level Taught
- Beginners
- Intermediate
- Advanced
Qualifications, Grades & Certificates Taught
- Instrument grades
- Rockschool
Musical Clusters Covered
- Salisbury / Wilton
Endorsements
“Simon has taught our three children the guitar (ages 16,13 and 9) for several years and he has been an exemplary teacher. He has the ability to inspire them, and also to patiently accommodate their individual music tastes, which has led to very happy and positive results. Having become bored under previous teachers, and wanting to give up, it was fantastic finding Simon because he restored their enthusiasm and love for the guitar. I cannot recommend Simon highly enough.”
Mrs Susie Bradley
“My son has been having lessons with Simon for two years and we are very pleased with the results. He reads music well and has made really good progress in both classical and modern guitar. He says that the lessons are good fun and Simon is very patient and explains things well. We are so pleased that he has finally found an instrument he wants to stick with and is learning to play it properly as previously he has been inclined to give up easily.
Some of the classical guitar pieces he has learned have been quite difficult for him at first, but with Simon’s encouragement he is learning to keep practising until he masters them. We really enjoy hearing him play!”
Jessie, West Tytherley
“Simon has been my daughters guitar teacher for over 2 1/2 yrs now teaching her classical guitar, music theory & now acoustic guitar, he makes the lessons fun but relaxing, ‘musical yoga’ as my daughter says. He is very reliable, teaches well without making it hard work to learn, is adaptable putting in the expertise needed for exams but can also teach fun ‘Pop’ tunes or music from films we have heard & love. We would highly recommend him (and do) to anyone, child or adult wishing to learn the guitar properly!!”
Lisa, Salisbury
My Training & Development
My recent training and development activities include attending the Wiltshire Music Connect training session on teaching music with laptops, and the January 2016 session on group instrumental teaching.
I attend WMC guitar faculty meetings, and completed a Wiltshire Safeguarding Children Board course on Awareness of Child Abuse and Neglect in October 2015. I completed the refresher course on this September 2018.
In the past I have also taken a course on using assistive technology in music making for children and young people with disabilities run by Drake Music.
I’ve also been studying Pedagogy and Music Education, plus theories of participatory practice.